


Chimaera

by Arhain_Aku



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Future, And Heavy Metal 4 Sure, Angst, Art 4 Art's Sake, Artificial Intelligence, Blood and Gore, Bullying, But It Is Hyper Weird, Cannibalism, Drug Use, Eventual Smut, Everyone Is Gay, I Don't Even Know, Kakashi too sheh, Mad Science, Multi, My oc is a seksi bitch, Sasuke is a little shit, Semi-Public Sex, She's just a wallflower anyway, Temporary Amnesia, Wow, okay not everyone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:41:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22177996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arhain_Aku/pseuds/Arhain_Aku
Summary: As a student in the Criminology department, Itachi was prepared for this. Nonetheless, he would never get used to the lurid and metallic scent of blood, nor to the horrible sight of a young woman's deformed corpse under vivid neon lights. This was the third body they had discovered this month.Itachi stood in awe, astonished and pale, while Kakashi checked the girl's back to uncover another one of these tattoos they had found on the other bodies : a circle-shaped snake eating its own tail. Itachi shuddered, violent flashbacks assaulting his mind - when he had to drink human blood for fresher initiation ritual in college. He could remember that.Yet - Why couldn't he last week ? Last year ?[Basically a crime fic inspired by movies like The Silence of the Lambs, Annihilation, Raw or The Neon Demon, with a lot of blood and swearing, weird aesthetics, rock music, and a cynical Itachi as the main character bc we all love him.]
Relationships: Deidara/Sasori (Naruto), Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Itachi/Uchiha Shisui
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Ctrl + Z

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there ! Big trigger warning if you fancy reading this, sweetie, I do like gore and this may contain a lot of disgusting things like blood everywhere and explicit descriptions of violence, like psychological violence, torture, stuff like that, bc I am emo and I have no hope in humanity anymore lol (can't wait to end up alone in a house in Ireland with sheeps, reading old books and joyfully insulting my neighbours in Breton).
> 
> ANYWAY, I am a French ass and even if I am currently studying English varieties and literature with great merryment, some grammar and other structures like idiomatic phrases might be lame, I apologise for this. But I'll do my best because I really enjoy it.
> 
> Thus, ENJOY THE FUCKING RIDE, I LOVE YOU.

This were supposed to be a common student party, although a party, according to its definition, never is, because shit happens, and there is always someone who has decided to fuck everything up with a bad drunk idea. Nevertheless, some recurrent themes or details can be found, as for instance a great amount of alcohol and party stuff like balloons and flashing lights, leading to the conclusion that the party might be common, which sounds a little bit annoying, of course. And indeed, Itachi was bored as hell. Nothing brand new, really, the same unholy litany : drugs, sex, alcohol, never mind the order.

But something was actually wrong, and himself felt somehow nervous. You know, that kind of foreboding intuition that keeps saying to your last active brain cells something like “get the fuck out of here, there is imminent danger to come but you cannot see it in your current state, you piss-smelling brat”. He could feel it creeping in his own bones and underneath his own skin, running through his veins and intoxicating his blood like a bloodsuck that would literally suck the life out of him. Without being able to put a finger on it. And maybe was it the very reason why he could not enjoy himself at this stupid party he did not even want to come to. 

The very same litany indeed, something like “Oh no Itachi, no no no, you’re coming because I AM lost without you, Heaven knows what is going to happen to me if you’re not here to protect me”, with Shisui’s voice.

It seemed to be a mundane student party where boys and girls were happily getting roaring drunk, low-key dancing among the thick cocktail of laughter, stumbling bodies, blue and red and pink smoke that looked like foam produced by the constant wavy movement of the crowd. It was hard to breathe down here, in the pit where all those faceless bodies were buzzing around, showered by dark and neon lights. Itachi had asthma and he did not want to have a fucking attack down there, among people he scarcely knew and whom he did not trust for sure.

That is why he would not go downstairs and join his moron of a best friend (fixed appelation despite the constant sexual tension), who, besides, was his cousin (yes), Shisui, and who appeared awfully glad to dance with a guy he did not know and whose name he would not even remember tomorrow. Common, absolutely. The story was still the same and it kept going on this way, in circles, endlessly – and yes, it pissed Itachi off, more than he ever would.

He decided to blame it on his sobriety. Unfortunately, although he fancied a great booze-up at this very moment, his little brother had prevented him to drink a single drop of any liquor that anyone could offer him. It was his turn to drive them home, that is to say, a wasted Shisui, an irritated Sasuke carrying a smashed Naruto, Sasuke's best friend (a vague qualification), and an embarrassed Sakura, the other best friend (vague as well), with her cheeks as pink as her hair. And thus, he would fight against his strong will to sleep and the feeling of wasting his time, appreciating the sunrise at six in the morning. 

The kind of cloudy sunrise with the fiery sunlight shyly igniting the horizon, vivid colors at the bottom of an infinite grey canvas. The kind of cloudy sunrise to make you nostalgic for something you never ever lived – someone has to write a poem about this, maybe someone already did, it has to be done. Frost, Whitman, Dickinson, Emerson, St Vincent Millay, Plath, Pound, whoever.

“Oi, Itachi ! Get your majestic flaky ass down here ! C'mon, dance with meee !”

Yeah, that was unlike him. Shisui was way more cold and silent in everyday life, but him too deserved to free himself from all the burdens and responsibilities of a young adult’s normal life once or twice in a month. As an answer to his invitation, Itachi coldly put a cigarette between his lips and made a gesture to indicate him that he had to smoke like, right now, and that he did not have time to waste at dancing. Asthma could never be a convincing and decent excuse, his cousin would remember the guy smoked like a damn chimney and that he always had one inhaler or two with him. Shisui pouted as his cousin turned his back, but his sadness was short-lived for some other student he knew waved at him.

Something was damn wrong. Itachi was easy-going, genuinely caring, maybe a little too much of an introvert sometimes for he was not really talkative – how many times had he not heard someone call him cute for that. Yet, he felt tensed and irritated. Nicotine and the cool air of this night of September were not enough to soothe him. 

No, that was not only because of Shisui's behaviour when drunk, he was used to it, he even regarded this as something natural now – there was something else, something dangerous, something that could hurt his family and friends without hesitation. But people were still casually talking and smoking and drinking around him, as if this party were really really really common. Sometimes, a small group would suddenly start yelling, exploding with enjoyment and satisfaction at the sight of the silliness of one of their friends. Nothing to panic about.

“What's wrong with me ?”, he thought, annoyed by his own mind and body.

He needily took a long drag of his cigarette, and breathed the smoke out to make it smoothly curl in the air. 

Nonetheless, Itachi could feel it, he could feel the rush, the infestation of a panic attack in his blood. He was in control, he would handle this, the basses pounding into his chest and hammering his heart, the chattering of people humming into his ears, so loud that he felt like covering them with his hands, the lights getting brighter and brighter making his lashes flutter, nothing brand new. 

Still, a sudden violent pain blossomed in his brain, his eyes and his whole skull ached – what was happening to him ? He had not drink, he had not take anything, he had to stay sober, remember ? And his cigarette was nothing but an innocent Marlboro.

“Looks like I'm not the only one to feel it,” said a voice as Itachi was sitting on the grass, struggling with an upcoming headache, in a corner that the lights did not reach.

He hardly rose his head and frowned. He knew this guy, he was in his year group, and his name was Yakushi Kabuto. Itachi considered in weariness his dark eyes behind those obnoxious glasses, trying to find any sparkle of mischief in his pupils. The only provocation that he could find was in his amused voice and in his oversize sweater of which he hated the colour.

“Or I could be intoxicated as fuck”, Itachi frostily answered, not feeling like getting up with his headache growing rougher. “What are you even talking about ?”

Kabuto chuckled and lent forward to help Itachi to get on his feat and stay upright, holding him by his waist. Itachi did not have the strength to refuse, although he did not understand this sudden generosity from Kabuto. Both of them were not really fond of each other. Itachi regarded Kabuto as some arrogant guy, obviously brilliant but whose pseudo-egotism and hunger for knowledge was the only way the man had found to solve his own inner philosophical conflict. Somehow, Itachi respected that, but he could not decide if he felt pity or antipathy for him, and did not regarded the question important enough to give a proper answer to it.

“Don't lie to me, Itachi, you felt that there was something going on tonight, am I right ?”

“Perhaps”.

“Like an urge to get out of here, something primal, as if you were a little mouse chased by a pack of cats ?”

Yes, he was damn right.

“So what, are you telling me that you're helping me to take advantage of the situation and kill me in a filthy and dark corridor ?”

The acid answer of the black-haired man got a smile out of Kabuto. Indeed, Itachi was on edge. And so was he, but he looked to act different. Kabuto carried Itachi to the kitchen of the mansion that had been rented for the event. For some reason, the room was not crowded with loaded students dancing or crying or kissing or something else. Itachi sat on the work surface and rubbed his forehead, the pain in his head declining slowly thanks to the relative silence of the room, as Kabuto poured him a glass of water and handed him a white pill.

“What's that ? Why are you doing this ? What do you want ?”, said Itachi with reluctance and distrust, his coal eyes glaring at his classmate.

Kabuto sighed, and then Itachi knew that the silver-haired young man had no choice and that it bothered him as well.

“Okay, listen carefully. I need you in good condition, first because you're in my year group and then, because there really is something going on here. Itachi, why are you attending at a stupid party like this, moreover, with your brother ?”

Itachi did not seem to understand at first, but Kabuto's question set off his warning bells. His question unveiled the existence of a form of danger that was creeping around all this time, and that both of them were sober or sensitive enough to feel it. Something primal, that was the right words.

“This party...”

“... announces the beginning of the hell week.”, finished Itachi in a low voice, feeling a little bit vague now.

Kabuto held the pill and the glass of water to him and Itachi took them without a word this time.

“The smoke on the dancefloor, did you breathed it ?”

“No, but Shisui and the others did. And I don't know where is Sasuke.”

“It's his first year as a med student, isn't it ?.”

“Tell me what you know.”

But Kabuto did not had the time to even start his sentence, for an ear-splitting shriek echoed in the entire mansion, followed by others screams and cries. They both froze, eyes on the door while horror seemed to rage on the other side. They could hear footsteps going in every directions, Itachi slowly took a blade from the knife-rest and got off the worktop, ready for a fight if necessary.

Kabuto took his phone in his hand and Itachi saw him hastily text someone whose name he could not read, which make him frown in suspicion.

“What's going on, Kabuto ?”, he asked, his voice firm and cold.

“You already know the answer.”

And he kicked the door open.

Right after that, the situation became even more real. Was that blood that Itachi could smell from there ? The terrified screaming voices could reach his ears now, enabling his instinct to urge him to run out of here. Someone had changed the music, Itachi recognized the harrowing sound of an organ mixed with the electro bass and synthesisers – obviously a catalyst to frighten the students. From the door frame, he could see people trying to escape from something invisible to him, running as if their lives depended on it – he could see their colored and moving silhouettes, unable to identify their faces.

Kabuto rose his hand to prevent him to make a move, they had to wait for the panic to decline. Itachi prayed for Sasuke and Shisui to be fine as adrenaline was still rushing in his blood, violently contrasting with Kabuto's military calmness.

After five minutes, the only sound to be heard was the lilting music playing. 

Kabuto waved him to follow him as he made his way out of the kitchen to the hall, that had been turned into a night club. Neon, lasers and dark lights were still flashing and glinting in all directions and the smell of blood was getting nastier as they were approaching the dancefloor. Every soul in there had left the place but theirs. Kabuto’s feet walked in something he identified as liquid, his black eyes followed his instinct which was asking what the hell was this. It was not transparent as water, yet it mirrored the light of neon as water would do. It had a darker shade. Even as a med student, he found difficult to admit it.

To admit that there was probably human blood under his feet, litres and litres, he could never count.

Kabuto’s phone made a nearly undetectable sound but it still managed to make them startle.

“Who’s that ?”

Itachi’s tone translated his suspicion and mistrust, but Kabuto would not answer his question.

“All you have to know is that we’re helped.”

“Where are the others ? I can’t entrust you my brother’s and my cousin’s lives.”

“Lives”, really ? This is not a matter of life nor death.

Itachi let out a long sigh. He was exhausted and terribly worried about his little brother and his cousin. Yet, Sasuke was not that drunk the last time he saw him around, and Shisui would had certainly sober up at the very moment someone started shouting. Shisui was cold-blooded too, he was a goddamn Uchiha. Like him, like Sasuke. Nonetheless, as cold-blooded could he be, Itachi would not accept that Kabuto was perfectly aware of the whole situation and that he was acting calmly as if he had been trained for this all his worthless life. And this single thought made his blood boil with pure rage and fury.

At some point he wished he could destroy his skull with his own hands in a glorious explosion of primary violence.

Which was unlike him, suddenly.

“They’re still around the mansion. The whole area is enclosed, the garden is five hectares long. There is a shrine and a former run where it is possible to take shelter.”

Each information Kabuto would give to him was not clear, he was beating around the bush as if to save time or as if he wanted him to find the solution by himself.

“Take shelter from what ?”

“Oh my, you don’t remember the hell week, do you ? We were in your brother’s shoes once, you can figure that out. And now we’re older and we have graduated, look at you, you even started working and you’re being paid for it and you’re brilliant, all pristine in your Hilfiger shirts.”

“I don’t think I’m hazing my brother right now”, replied Itachi, harshly.

“But you can help him, choose your team.”

“What about you ?”

“Obviously, I’m helping. This was just an appetiser and you know it far too well…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You okay ? me neither. Orochimaru looks younger than me in Boruto, I am not even 20 and yes it is embarrassing me (that's not even true), and why tf am I watching this anyway.


	2. Ctrl + Z (mirror)

Sasuke could not recognise his current environment, but there was one thing he was absolutely certain about, he had to escape from here. Find the others and run away, get the fuck out of here. Run, drive away, as fast as possible, and tell the speed restrictions to go fuck themselves. There was a cry, and then rumbling and unidentifiable sounds. Primal rage, some suspended war to wage. His ears were ringing as if shocked by an explosion or it was just the panic that made his blood boil and pulsate to his temples. Not even five seconds ago, Naruto was with him, but the blonde just suddenly disappeared and Sakura was nowhere to be found as well. He was alone in this room in which he suffocated, surrounded by enemies. Familiar-looking enemies, humans, or human-like aliens. A panic rush seized him again. What was that. Why. 

Where was Itachi. 

The pink tapestried walls were sweating a poisonous light – disgusting ghostly fluffy mist floating in the whole room and it was not surreal to think that one could grasp it like candy floss. Nonetheless it promised nothing good as it was invading space, gently weaving on the carpet floor.

The raven haired stormed out of the room, and found himself in the middle of a dimly lighted corridor. The deafening sound of his shoes tapping on the floor got him violently nauseous and he nearly puked out the five vodka shots he had during the evening. Holding his belly, he hardly made his way to the end of the corridor, stumbling on sleeping students wrecks. Their rolled back eyes and open mouths translated their peculiar cross-faded state, but Sasuke was too sick to care about them.

Therefore, the young Uchiha ignored the thick red ink covering them, and the idea that it could be blood did not even occurr to him. His senses were too altered for him to be in full synchronisation with his environment, the only thing that mattered was to find his friends and his brother because the latter promised to bring them back home when it would be the time for it and oh god that was the right moment, they had to flee, right now. 

He opened one of the door instinctively, hoping to find someone he knew and did found an immobile Sakura laying on the floor, her pretty face, her pink wavy hair and her clothes were covered with the same red substance he had noticed on the other students, as if she just made it through hell and just came back. Her eyes were open but it was obvious that the girl’s state hardly resembled consciousness for her green eyes were staring into space. The raven-haired did not hesitate to slap her cheeks to wake her up. Violence had it’s justification, here it was a question of survival and she would have the right to blame him for it afterwards. He helped her to get on her feet as she emerged – her waist felt thinner that he would have expected around his arm. And as soon as they both had passed through the entrance, Sakura just vomited all that her stomach could contain, letting go of Sasuke.

“Hey, you o-”

“No”, she cut him, her tone colder than stone as she remained on her knees, heavily breathing. 

Sakura just coughed blood and spat some other things too, Sasuke could not identify what matter it was. Sakura was disoriented. In her memories she had scarcely eaten something before coming to the party and although she did drink a lot with the boys, she was still able to recall that she did not eat anything during the night. Or it was solely an impression. Did she have a blackout ? No, that was impossible, she always made sure that she would still be conscious of every movement and every action. But now, she felt dispossessed of this faculty of hers. As if someone had just stolen a tiny part of what made her Sakura Haruno, of her own identity.

“Is it…?”, she said with a raspy voice, her throat still aching from the effort.

Sasuke could only watch her with concern deeply marked in his darker than dark pupils. He felt estranged to this disintegrating world – damn what was happening to her, to them? He shook his head to indicate her that he did not know much more than she did. He was as lost as her, just less drunk and more in control. Sakura got up and whispered that they had to go outside, at least to be able to breathe properly.

All of a sudden and as from distant space, a familiar voice called out both of their names before running smack into them for a tight embrace. Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura felt reassured but their relief was short-lived for their friend was actually crying his eyes out, his whole body shaking and although they knew the fair-haired lad was damn emotional, it was still hard to frighten him like this. Naruto was brave. But like that, crying and holding them tight as if to prevent them to disappear, he did not look brave at all. 

“God, I hope I’m just fucking dreaming ‘cause it’s a god-damned nightmare I’m living in there”, he said with a passive voice. 

He was damn right, that was just a god-damned nightmare. What presupposed benevolent god could let it happen. Sasuke never really cared about metaphysical matters as his brother did, nevertheless it was now time to interrogate some aspects of this fucked up world. Surreal was not the exact adjective because it could not be more real. The fear in Sakura’s emerald pupils was genuine, and there absolutely was authenticity in Naruto’s tears. Supernatural would be far-fetched. Sasuke would not admit it, but the sticky red liquid in Sakura’s hair was not some ectoplasm secretion, it looked like blood, and it might be blood. No, they were living an uncommon situation but it surely had a rational explanation, they were just lacking information. 

The young Uchiha took each of them by the wrist in silence, intimating them to move on. They had to go on and leave this filthy and deranged place and let someone more capable to have the situation under control. They had to find Itachi and Shisui first, then find the car and fucking leave.

There was red ink and glitter dust on each step of the stairs. Sasuke walked on some girl’s hair slide and it made a snap under his Nike shoe. Naruto quivered as suddenly alerted while Sakura did not react at all, concentrating her thoughts on their objective – Sakura had emerged from her trance but it appeared that it was not completely the same for Naruto. The blonde’s eyes were still swollen and red, and Sasuke spotted terror in them. Terror from having seen something horrible, something that transcended the human laws, and it was clear that his senses were exacerbated. It was unlike him to be like this. Naruto was not a med student like he and Sakura were, his formation was a military one. But still, he was young, and then vulnerable.

“What did you take, Naruto?”, the raven-haired finally asked his friend.

“Can’t remember”, he answered, his voice low. Sakura frowned and looked at Sasuke in distress.

“I’m not talking about the alcohol, I know you.”

Naruto shook his head. He could not say anything about what he had done earlier. He had been drinking for sure, but if he had been smoking or taking pills, that he was not completely sure about.

“Can’t remember”, he repeated, passing a hand in his hair with an anxious sigh.

They reached the hall and there was no one to be seen around. The spacious room was curiously silent, the silence barely broken by the dulling sounds made by the hi-fi speakers and the abandoned turntables. The mirror ball reflected iridescent lights on their faces as the three of them stood in awe before a large puddle of a not-really-liquid dark red substance. Naruto lifted his head as to find the origin of the ink or syrup or whatever, but his deep blue eyes only saw a roof with switched off light emitting diodes. On top of that and worse, there was the smell. A metallic, prickly and aggressive exhalation came from the puddle, and judging from the chaotic red footprints on the tiles, this might be the origin of all the agitation. 

Sakura wiped her forehead with the back of her left hand in exhaustion, Sasuke still holding tightly her right wrist. She felt dizzy, her sore body was likely to fail her at every moment. But she would not tell the others, she had to stay conscious and ready to escape. They were in danger, that was what the bloody puddle was telling them. A threat, nothing more. A weird and dangerous game in which they were risking their lives, or at least the creator of all this farce was inoculating this idea into them as to wake their primal instincts up. Yeah, that was an interesting and plausible theory.

“Jesus fucking Christ, what happened down there ? I’ve been upstairs all the time, I-”, Naruto was too shocked to end his sentence. Somehow it was reassuring, the lad had finally gathered his thoughts back from the downy void of his comedown.

“What on earth were you fucking doing upstairs”, Sakura sighed, her gaze still glued to the dark red puddle.

“I don’t think that’s the right moment to-”

This time Sakura did not allow the blonde brat to finish his complaint.

“It is.”

“We were all upstairs. I followed you, Sakura, because some guy were hitting on you and it was awful, really. And Naruto was just drinking with our year group mates”, Sasuke intervened.

“You’re one hell of a guardian angel, ain’t you?”, Naruto commented, sardonically.

“Anyway lads...”

Sakura’s voice were serious and she moved her hand in order to take Sasuke’s hand in hers, as if looking for some comfort from her friend.

“… this is blood, am I right?”

“Definitely”

“D’you think it’s human?”, suggested Naruto, clear disgust and horror on his face.

Neither Sasuke or Sakura answered, their silence signifying that they did not know themselves, that they would never know and that they did not want to know. Someone might know, but things were unclear. There was not a soul around there, as if they were the last survivors of a catastrophe. A fulgurant virus, a hurricane that let few damage behind, a terrorist raid. Someone might know. Sasuke let go of his friends and turned over to face the open front door. No wind, no rain outside, just the calmness of 4 am and the pale light of the crescent moon.

Sasuke decided that the only solution they had was to rely on their instinct. The young Uchiha took the risk to follow the stony path leading to the backyard. From outside the manor and its Venetian architecture looked more threatening than ever, the persistent but delicate Gothic style and the remnants of Ancient times engraved in the columns of the entry let in Sasuke an impression he could not define. Who was bold enough to rent this over-expensive house to students parties. Maybe they were just bored for being too rich or, on the contrary, they needed money to conserve this ageless heritage. What a romantic place for such a chaos.

The plants and flowers of the garden remained untouched and despite the magenta plastic cups and empty bottles on the grass, nobody would have thought that a huge party had been carried out there. Sasuke heard Sakura calling him in the distance but did not answer back, too focused on his exploration in this well maintained jungle. He let his fingertips caress the gladiolas and other orchids. The path were leading to a rectangular swimming pool at the end of the garden, in the middle of sleeping apple trees and weeping willows. A smooth blue light escaped from this place, attracting mosquitoes and other insects. The Eden-like impression given by the garden, even in the night, suddenly shattered before Sasuke’s coal eyes. The pool had been emptied and this part of the garden felt abandoned in comparison to the plants. 

Itachi and Shisui were standing in the tiled pit, facing something that Sasuke could hardly distinguish from here. But he could smell it – decay, putrefaction. He jumped into the pit and the sound of his sneakers tapping on the blue tiles made Itachi turn over. Sasuke saw relief in his brother’s eyes and god, he restrained himself to just embrace him because he had been so concerned and to see him and their cousin alive and unharmed was a pure alleviation.

Sakura and Naruto appeared as well, both huffing and puffing after having run after the raven-haired young man. Naruto nodded to Itachi in silence, relieved to see him alive, but he understood that something was wrong when Itachi did not gently smile back as he usually did. Shisui was still frozen, as if transformed into a pillar of salt, neon blue lights emphasising the look of dread on his face. A transgression had been done, indeed. And this was this new knowledge that let Shisui astonished like that, Uchiha or not, he remained human after all. 

A woman’s body, a corpse more exactly, was laying naked on its side. But it scarcely looked human. It had lost its complexion, the head and the long wavy golden mane were still at their place. The eyes and the nose had been removed and there was flowers instead. Some parts and limbs were missing, a hand, a calf, a toe, as blown out by an explosion or savagely ripped off. The absence of blood around the victim stroke Sasuke who were observing without knowing if he had to be disgusted or fascinated. It was horrible, there was no blood around but some motifs had been reproduced on the woman’s body, a butterfly, flowers, and around one of her breasts, a circle-shaped snake eating its own tail. Somehow, there was beauty in it. There is always beauty in ugliness, and vice versa. And the embodiment of this general truth was just before their eyes. 

“Kids, I don’t think that it’s a good idea to -”

Sakura puked out the poor remnants of bile her body contained in a corner, her body shaking all over, Itachi rubbing her back and holding her curled pink hair. No, she did not feel well at all and nothing was to help her tonight.

“Fuck off Shisui, what the fuck is that, shit, what did just happened?!”, Naruto loudly cried out, his head in his hands, giving himself over to the panic. “What the hell is going on?!”

“Fucking calm down”, ordered Itachi and Naruto could not recall having heard Itachi swear like that for ages. The man was on edges like him, like the others, and no, he could not just blame them for that and complain and insult them deliberately. 

The fair-haired brat let out a low apology, crossing his arms on his black Carhartt sweater, as to shelter himself from the non-existent cold.

“So, what are we supposed to do now?”, asked Sakura, catching her breath and exasperated by the situation. She hated the fact that she could not understand what was happening to them, it was unbearable and there was a dead body involved now. Naruto was right, they were leaving a nightmare and they could not wake up because they were wide awake. She had tried to pinch her skin on her naked arm to verify the hypothesis, but it led to the same conclusion. 

“Should we call the police?”, said Naruto.

“Some students already did, they’ll come”, Shisui answered.

“Where are the other students, if I remember well we were around 200 persons attending the damn party, where are they ?”

“Believe me or not, they just disappeared”, a new voice spoke, Kabuto, stepping into the emptied pool and joining their small group in nonchalance. Sasuke frowned, what the hell was he doing here.

“Yo”, Naruto coldly greeted him with antipathy, Kabuto only nodded back, ignoring the implied provocation. No, really, he was not appreciated around there. 

“Don’t tell me there is some supernatural reason behind all this shit, because I won’t believe you for sure”, bit Sakura. Shisui lent her his beige sweater as she were still trembling, which she gladly accepted.

“No, the truth is that they are all trapped in the basement of the mansion. They have been doped by inhalation, so they are just in a sort of trance and can’t wake up from this state. They’re just wrecks, bodies without conscience, but it won’t last. In the panic, someone might have rushed them into the basement saying that they would be safe in. Still, none of us know who it was and what exactly triggered the movement. Moreover, when it comes to the reasons why, let’s say that it’s just hazing, but in an extreme way.”

“Hey, you know a lot of things, don’t you?”, Sasuke remarked, weary.

Kabuto chuckled, Itachi had reacted the same way.

“As I said to your dear brother, we’re helped...”

Sasuke wanted to ask him who was actually helping them but a siren prevented him to speak. The police officers were here with the emergency services. One hour later, the students were evacuated and the place put under police administration for an inquiry, after being emptied of its population. The little group of survivors were asked to leave after having been informed that they would be contacted later on for their testimonies. 

Itachi started the BMW and drove them back home. During the ride, all of them remained silent, still hardly realising what just did happen, lulled by the soft innocuous rock music on the radio as the sun rose. Sakura, still wearing Shisui’s sweater, fell asleep on Naruto’s shoulder, the poor girl were exhausted and feverish. Naruto were absently stroking her hair, his arm behind her shoulders. Shisui opened his window and lighted a well deserved cigarette, carelessly watching the landscape going by. Sasuke caught Itachi’s gaze through the rear-view mirror, both of them checking on each other. 

When back at the apartment Sasuke and Itachi shared, all of them slept without dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was hard, but I finally wrote it. It takes me fucking 15 min to write a single sentence bc I'm always questioning the grammar and stuff and it's still lame anyway.  
> But I'm inspired gtrfhuyfn, the following chapters are gonna be HOT af omg. I just have plenty of work to do for the uni and I'm fucking going to work for 2 months in Ireland so yeah, I'm busy and I'm a taurus I need my sleep.  
> But no one cares about it. Take care, drink water (or whatever) and listen to Rosalía bc it's too good omfl (besos tho).


End file.
